Walking These Paths
by nhraluver
Summary: takes place after x but before x-2. what will happen when the gullwings must face vegnagun armed with nothing but hope and love? rikkuXgippal tidusXyuna
1. Prologue

**WALKING THESE PATHS**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the FFX-2 characters. I only own the characters that I created and this plot. Some of the locations are referred to in X/X-2, and I dont own those.

WRITER: nhraluver

TAKES PLACE: Right after X, and right before X-2

RATED: PG-13 for language, violence, and some adult content

GENRE: Romance/Action/Drama

SUMMARY: The Gullwings set off to find spheres, but Yuna also wants to find Tidus, which later happens. They also hunt for Vegnagun. Some fluffs between Rikku/Gippal and Yuna/Tidus.

**PROLOGUE**

This is how it feels to be Yuna.

_You're_ the one who defeated Sin two years ago. _You're_ the one who traveled through the dangerous world of Spira to every temple to acquire every aeon. And_ you're _the one brought the Calm.

The Calm. A time of peace. Without Sin, or any other disturbing force alike. You're greatly respected by everyone that you meet.

You were strong enough.

You were wise enough.

And you accepted your fate.

Even though you knew you would die once the Final Aeon was summoned, you still wanted to live life to its fullest. Smiling when you were sad. Laughing when you were afraid. That was how they knew you would be the one who would defeat Sin.

But instead, you met him. He claimed to be from Zanarkand, though the magnificent city had been destroyed 1000 years ago. Still, there was something about this young man that caused you to want to believe him. And in your blindness, you fell in love with him. And he fell in love with you.

But you knew someone would have to disappear, and it hurt so badly, it burned you inside. It stung worse than any bite. It burned worse than any fire. And it gnawed at your mind until you wanted to fall to your knees and scream until you died. But you knew it all along. He couldn't stay forever.  
And then he disappeared. Right in front of you.

But something in your heart told you that he wouldn't be gone forever.

And now, here you are. It's peaceful. The land is still as beautiful as it had been, although there is a lot more smiling. Smiling when you're happy. Laughing when you're courageous. Because you know now that the calm has finally returned.

Your life is uneventful, but it is safe and it is peaceful.

It is.

At least until you found yourself facing yet another journey. A repeat of the first. A journey of tears. Of fears. Of laughs, and of loves.

And just when you thought you would break down and cry because he wasn't there to make you laugh, or to make you smile, or to bring hopefullness to the fearful and deadly thought that you could die at any moment...

He was.

He was there.


	2. Old Friend

**CHAPTER ONE: Old "Friend"**

Yuna stood aboard the Celsius, gazing out of the window, watching the tiny bits of land far down below speed by. Was this journey really going to help her find her lost friend? She could only hope. Taken from her slumber by Rikku was what brought her aboard this airship, set to become a member of the Gullwings, a group of sphere hunters. That sounded fun, and journeying all over Spira might help her to find if Tidus really was still alive.

An audible _whoosh!_ went by behind her as doors opened. She turned around to see a slim, short blonde girl approaching her. Yuna smiled. She rushed up to her old friend and cousin and hugged her.

"Yunie! It's so good to see you!"

She let go and stepped back to see Rikku.

"Wow, you're all grown up!" she said, still smiling.  
Rikku grinned innocently and tossed her head to the side, her long ponytail following. "Oh, not really. I'm still your friendly little Rikku! I'm older, but I still act like the 15 year-old girl you met two years ago."

Yuna laughed. "I would expect no more."

They took a couple steps inward towards the doors Rikku entered in.

"So where are we exactly?" Yuna asked. "I know we're on an airship."  
"The Celsius. And you're one of the leaders of the Gullwings!"

"One of? How many are there?"  
"Well, there's Brother, my brother, who's the leader, but you're kind of his co-pilot, only you don't pilot. And there's Buddy..."

They went through another pair of doors where a tattood man was piloting the ship, and an Al Bhed with the goggles on was co-piloting on a computer.

"He operates our destinations!"

The tattood man left his seat and approached Yuna, shaking her hand quickly.

"High summoner Yuna! It is so nice to see you!"  
Yuna pulled back nervously. "Uh...right! And you are...?"

"Oh, don't listen to him!" Rikku butted in. "That's Brother."

"Oh! Nice to meet you!"

The other man approached the group of three.

"And this is Buddy!" Rikku introduced him cheerily.

"Nice to finally meet you, Yuna. Rikku's spoken much about you."

Yuna nodded. A woman dressed in black in a warrior dressphere approached them. Rikku went up to her.

"This is Paine. She travels with us! The three of us are YRP. We actually _do_ work." Rikku glanced over at Brother, who shrugged in return.  
"What? You say I do nothing?"

Rikku sighed. "Anyways, I guess...oh! And that's Shinra. A really smart kid! He does all our smart person stuff."

Rikku pointed to a young boy in the seat on a computer.

"So make yourself at home, Yunie!" Rikku invited warmly. "The elevator to the rest of the ship is just down the hall if you want to tour it."

She smiled and bounded off to the seat opposite the captain's seat. Yuna timidly approached Buddy, who had slipped back into his seat.

"So...what do we do right now?" she asked him, a bit unsure of what to do.  
"Well, you tell us!"

"Huh?"  
"Choose a destination, and we'll take you there."

He gestured to the computer screen with a list of locations over Spira. At the bottom of the list was the Zanarkand Ruins. Her heart flipped. Maybe Tidus was there!

"Zanarkand...we can go there?"  
Buddy sighed. "Maybe not right away. Not until you strengthen up. Zanarkand is issuing a warning of high-fiend-activity. Maybe we should wait...?"

"Uh, right!"

She looked over the rest of the list. Buddy put his finger over the glass screen, right over the Bikanel Desert.

"I don't suppose you'd forget that place?" he grinned.

Yuna smiled back. "Of course! What about it?"  
"Well, an Al Bhed named Nhadala works there. If you want, you can get a letter from her to permit you to dig there."

"Dig what?"  
"Anything you find. But you'd have to vist the Djose Temple and speak to the Machine Faction leader, Gippal, first." he chuckled under his breath. "Good friend of Rikku's."

Yuna wasn't sure of what he meant, but she smiled in agreement.

"I suppose we could."

"So the Djose Temple?"  
"Right!"

"Hey!" he announced. "Your leader, Yuna, has decided we will pay a visit to the Djose Temple!"

"No! I am the leader! I decide!" Brother argued. He breathed in. "To the Djose Temple!"

He jumped in his seat and began to stear for Djose.

"Wow." Rikku said, looking around as they landed on the ground. "This place looks a lot different than before."

She sighed and waited for Paine and Yuna as they jumped to the ground from the airship.

"So where to?" Paine said, monotone.

"Uh..." Yuna was confused. "Rikku! Where are you going?"

Rikku was running up to the large doors. Yuna shook her head and sighed, following, with Paine at her heels. They approached Rikku, who was speaking Al Bhed with a fellow Al Bhed. She turned to Yuna.

"He says we'll have to fill out an application to get in."

"Application for what?" Paine asked.  
"To get interviewed, silly!"

Rikku bounded off for one of the small huts along the road.

"You have quite a friend." Paine said as they headed for the hut.

"You gotta love her. She's the friendliest person you'll ever meet." Yuna smiled as she recollected her journey with Rikku two years ago. "It was only two years ago when I met her."

"It was only a week ago when I met her."

In a matter of seconds, Rikku came running out with a paper in her hand. She rushed past Yuna and Paine and right to the guards at the door, handing them the form. She turned and gestured for them to follow. Moments later, they were inside the temple, waiting. Two men were speaking to each other in Al Bhed. Then, one of them approached the trio.

"Well, well, well. I never thought the high summoner would be the one crawling to the Machine Faction begging for a trowel and shovel."

Yuna was puzzled. "Have we met?"  
"Gippal. Leader of the Machine Faction. And I've heard quite a lot about you, Miss Yuna."

Yuna stepped back. "Uh...we're here for the -"

"Well, if it isn't Cid's little girl! How's life treating you?"

Rikku folded her arms over her chest. "Hmph! I have a name, buddy!"

Yuna couldn't help but smile. "You two know each other?"  
"Well, yeah! We made quite the couple!"  
Rikku turned red. "Wh...hey!" She pushed him as he grinned at his humiliation of Rikku.

"Couple, huh?" Paine asked.

"Whatever he's talking about..." Rikku said, looking away.

"Oh, yeah. Back in those days -"  
"We're here for the interview!" Rikku put in quickly.

Gippal grinned devilishly. "Right. The interview. Well, you're hired! Take this letter to Nhadala."  
"Uh...that's it?" Yuna said.

"What? You want a parade?"  
"No, it's just that -"  
"And, hey! Why leave so fast? I'm sure you'd like to visit the temple, right?"  
"Well -"

"Good! How's about I show you around?"

He began to walk off. Yuna sighed and followed, knowing she did need to get on his good side.

"The Machine Faction organizes the digs. Well, we permit Nhadala to organize them. We build and send the machina to the desert to serve them in their digging. Whatever they find there, they give to us, and we pay them 25 of what it's worth. We also help them by giving them the machina."

"What all do you find?"  
"Machina remains. Scraps that are still good that can be used to build up some new machina. Maybe you find other stuff you could use. For battle, say...potions, phoenix downs, remedies. Stuff that the Gullwings might like."

He stopped walking.

"Another sphere hunting group dropped by a while ago. Leblanc? They wanted me to hire them, but seeing how their your arch foes, I told them we already hired."

"That was...a nice thing to do." Yuna said.  
"On your side, it was."

"So...what else is there to see around here?"

"Head across the bridge and you'll find a split for a choice of visits. But whatever you do," he warned as he leaned in closer. "Don't get too sneaky around the temple. We've got a few confidential things we wouldn't like the public to know about."

"And we're considered the public?"  
"Just that it's supposed to be kept between the Machine Faction. Nothing personal."

"I'm sure."

He opened a large door that led to a stairwell, leading down into darkness. The walls were lit only by torches.

"Well, now that you know a bit, go take a look around!"

They began to walk off. He grabbed Rikku by the wrist and pulled her back.

"Not you."

"Hey!"

"I wanna show you something."

She glanced back to Yuna, who seemed to be enjoying their scenes together.

"I'll be a minute!" she called.

She entered the room and waited for Gippal as he secured the large door behind them. She walked down the thick stairs alongside him.

"So how've you been?" he asked.  
"Where are we going?" she ignored his question.  
"I told you I wanna show you something."

"What?"  
"Something I think you'll be pleased with."

"Like...?"  
"You'll see."

At the bottom of the stairs, he unlocked another door and closed it behind them. In the next room were small machina in each corner and a large cabinet at the back wall. They approached it and Gippal unlocked it. He removed a metal case and opened it. Rikku gasped at the sight inside.

"Dual Blades!"

"That's right."  
"These are much better than the ones I have now!"

Rikku reached in the box and removed the blades that were similar to her current ones with her Thief Dressphere, but these were far more advanced.

"Where did you find them?"  
"I didn't. Nhadala's diggers did. Of course, we owed them a nice little amount of gil, but it was worth it."

"Wow. They're in such good condition!"

She twirled them around quite professionally.

"I want you to have them."

She stopped playing with them and looked at him, surprised.

"Are you serious?"  
"Sure. It's not like I'll ever use them. And I figured it could help you in your sphere hunting."

"Well..."  
"Don't say you can't take it. Just take it."

"I...well...thank you. Very much! It's very sweet of you."

They began to head up the stairs, back to where the others awaited.

"Why don't you come along with us?" Rikku suggested brightly. "We could use another Gullwing!"

"And leave the Machine Faction? Whatever, kid."

"Leave it in the hands of someone else!"  
"That's like turning it over to some homeless guy on the street. I leave, and this place goes down, and machina are needed all over Spira."

"Well...temporarily! You can come on the ship, then come back here!"  
"I still can't. Sorry."

He opened the door for her that led to the stairs. They began trodding up the steps.

"But we could use your help."  
He chuckled. "I've been right all these years. You do need me."

She stopped walking. Noticing her not following, he turned around to find her staring at him disappointedly.

"Did you give me these just to give yourself pride in the thought that I can't live without you?"  
He grinned. "Well, something like that."  
"You are such a meanie! In fact, if that's all, I don't want it!"

"Give yourself a break, kid. You need those weapon as much as you need me."

"I don't need you! I can handle myself, thank you!"

"Boy, has that changed," he muttered.

Rikky drew back, angry. She covered her head and stomped, groaning loudly. After recollecting herself, she shoved the blades to Gippal and pushed her way past him, up the stairs, and out the door, meeting with Yuna and Paine, who were speaking with Buddy and Brother. Yuna saw her as she approached them. She came up to Rikku.

"So, what did he want?"

"To be a show-off!"  
"What?"  
"Nevermind. It's nothing. Ready to go?"

Before she could answer, Brother rushed up to them.

"So, Rikku, how is your old friend, Gippal?" he teased.

"He's fine. Ready to go?"  
"No, not quite. Maybe we should -"  
"Yuna!" she called. "Do you wanna leave?"

"Um, sure!"

Brother sighed.

"Fine. What Yuna says. Onto the ship!"

Rikku tried to push her arguement with Gippal behind her as she boarded the airship. She knew, no matter what had happened in their past that had angered her, she still shouldn't have acted that way. Using such words against someone she needed to ally herself with in her journey as a Gullwing wasn't such a good idea, and she instantly began to feel guilty. She boarded the ship and sat back in her piloting seat. Buddy was the last to board the ship, and he had a case in his hand. He approached Rikku as Brother began to lift the ship from the ground.

"Gippal says you might need this. He wanted you to have it."  
"What?" she said, almost shouting. "He is such a meanie!"

"Why is that?"  
She sighed and leaned back. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just set it over there. Let's get going."


	3. Sand, Heat, and Spheres

**CHAPTER TWO: Sand, Heat, and Spheres**

Yuna awoke from her light slumber in the cabin of the Celsius. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was, but then she remembered. She was on the airship that belonged to the Gullwings, the sphere hunters, which she had become a part of. But whether it was more for spheres or for finding Tidus, she couldn't decide.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and stood slowly. She headed down the stairs and past the Hypello, Barkeep. She went onto the Bridge and met with Buddy.

"How are things going?" she asked.

"We're just about to Bikanel. Don't worry. Did you sleep good?"  
"Fine, thanks."  
"That's good to hear."

"Bikanel Desert, up ahead!" Brother shouted. "Land!"

He pulled the ship into the vast desert. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine exited. As they stepped off, the sand stirred beneath their feet.

"You do know where you're going, right?" Brother assured.

"Of course I do, silly!" Rikku said. "Don't worry."  
"And you have the letter?" he asked again.  
"Got it!" Yuna removed her permit from her outfit and waved it for Brother to see.

"By the way," Buddy called to them. "This is a hotspot, so there's a sphere around here, too. But be careful, because where there's a sphere, there are people trying to keep you away from it."  
"Got it!" Yuna called.

"Now be careful, Yuna. I'll be waiting!" Brother said as he closed the ramp to the ship.

Yuna sighed and shook her head.

"Don't mind him, Yunie. He's just a freak. Come on, let's move out!"

Rikku began to lead the way. She led them right into the camp. Nhadala was speaking with another man. Yuna approached her. Nhadala turned to face her. She looked her up and down, as if approving of her presence. Finally she spoke.

"Can I help you?"  
"Uh, yeah. Gippal gave us this letter to give to you."

She handed the letter to Nhadala. Her face changed from irritation to happiness.

"Oh! So _you're_ the new diggers."  
"That's us!"  
"We've been waiting for you. You can start digging immediately."

She began to lead them over to one of the engine-controlled machina.

"We'll start you off in the Western Expanse. Dig there, just don't stay out too long. You could dehydrate. You'll have an itinerary to cover with a list of machina pieces to find. Once you find them, bring them back to me. For each piece you find, we'll give you 100 gil. Whatever you find that we don't need, you get to keep."

Yuna recalled the sphere. "What, besides the pieces, could we find?"

"Nothing really special, but you can find potions, remedies, phoenix downs...you know, battle stuff. And," she leaned in to whisper. "For your liking, I hear there's a sphere buried out there somewhere. Maybe you'll get lucky...?"

Yuna grinned as she leaned away. "I sure hope so!"

Nhadala handed her a report of items to find.

"10 items buried in 10 different spots, all in the same Expanse. Find them and report back to me. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good luck, ladies. You'll need it." she said.

"And what does that mean?" Rikku said, hands on hips.  
"No offense, but I wouldn't expect her royal high summoner to be the best at this job. In fact, I wondered why Gippal even hired you..."  
"Oh, none taken!" Rikku said sarcastically.

"Like I said, don't take it offensively. My impression on you isn't so high that's all."

"Neither is mine." Rikku muttered as Nhadala headed off, back for one of her tents.

"Well, she sure is a judge by-the-cover type." Paine said, disgusted.

"Don't worry, Yunie! We'll do fine, no matter what she says."

They turned around to face the large machina.

"Where you pretty ladies headed to?" a gruff man asked.  
"The Western Expanse, please." Yuna said.

He chuckled. "Well, hop aboard!"

The trio boarded the ride as it sped through the desert. _Not much of a sight, _Yuna thought, as nothing but sand flew by. In moments, they were off in the Expanse to dig. Instantly, she noticed that the heat here was much hotter than back at the camp. Rikku groaned.

"It's so hot out here!" she wiped her forehead.

"Come on," Paine said. "Let's just dig. Remember we're looking for a sphere, too."

Yuna looked at her dune-scanner. A red dot flashed on the screen, signaling the find of a machina piece. She made her way in its direction and began to dig. Immediately, she found the piece just below the surface. She put it in the knapsack Nhadala had given her. This wasn't as hard as she thought! But, sure as she thought, the next few pieces were harder to find. She continued to dig, wondering how much Rikku and Paine had found, hopefully a lot.

"Yunie! Yunie!" Rikku called, running up to her.

Yuna stood from her crouching position to a stand.

"What is it?"

"We each found 3 pieces. How many have you found?"

"Four."  
"Good! Then we're done! But that's not what I came to say. Over by the oasis down there," she pointed to a speck of an oasis in the distance. "My scanner's picking up the signal of a rare object. Maybe it's the sphere!"

"We should go check it out!"

"Let's go fast though. I'm thirsty!"

They met with Paine and trekked through the sand and to the oasis. Resting on the sand was a brightly-glowing, orange sphere.

"The sphere!" Rikku and Yuna cried in unison.

Yuna rushed to it and picked it up, handling it carefully.

"Let's get back so we can watch it on the ship!" Rikku said excitedly.

"Well, if it isn't the _Dull_wings!" a sassy voice called out.

The Gullwings turned around to find the Leblanc Syndicate standing there.

"We would really like to thank you, actually, for taking time from your busy digging schedule to find our sphere!" Leblanc said.  
"_Your_ sphere!" Rikku cried. "It's finders, keepers! And we found it! You're too late!"

"Well, no one said that that rule always applied! As I recall, it could also be 'takers, keepers'."

"It can't be keepers unless you can take it from us. Which you can't!"

"Oh? And why can't we?"

"Because you're not quick enough!"

"We'll see about that..." Leblanc bellowed. "Boys?"

"Yes, Boss?"  
"Show them how it's done!"

The two teams engaged into a battle, the fight for the sphere. After the seemingly endless battle, the Gullwings came out successful.

"I told you that you wouldn't get it!" Rikku gloated.

"It's not over, Dullwings!" Leblanc said as she sat in the heap of three bodies.

With the wave of her fan, they disappeared. Rikku looked around.

"Once again, the Gullwings started and finished in the lead!"

"You expected any less?" Paine said.

"I wonder where her royal failure-ness went to?"

"Probably to go patch up their wounds." Yuna said with a giggle.  
"Let's get back to the camp." Paine said. "We need to see what's on this sphere."  
"And we need to get a big drink of water!" Rikku said.

In a few minutes, they were back at the camp. They gave Nhadala all the machina pieces. She examined their condition and then handed them off to the other men to take in for cleaning. She sighed as she faced Yuna.

"Well, I was certainly wrong about you, Yuna. I didn't think you were going to find even one piece!"

"Uh...thanks?" Yuna said, unsure if it was more of a compliment than an insult.

"And I promised you a reward, so...take this 1000 gil. Hopefully it'll be useful to you."  
"Thank you."  
"Did you find anything else?" she said quietly.

Yuna revealed the sphere.

"Wow." Nhadala said. "I've never actually seen one of these. It's remarkable! Can we watch it?"

Yuna glanced at Paine, who seemed to be irritated by Nhadala inviting herself. But she agreed. She played the sphere. The sphere showed what looked like a giant monster...or some kind of weapon. It was black and glowed red. People ran far from it, screaming in fear. Several, however, didn't make it, getting murdered by the thing. The sphere ended.

"What was that?" Rikku asked.

"I'll tell you what it was." Nhadala sighed. "It's Vegnagun. A powerful machina weapon. It was created only two years ago, and the Machine Faction hid it away, but where, no one knows."

"Did the scenery look familiar to you?" Yuna asked.

"No, sorry. All I could see was Vegnagun."  
"Wait a minute..." Rikku pondered. "Yunie! The other sphere! Of him! Didn't that look the same as this sphere? You know, the background and all?"

"Come to think of it, it does!"

"All we have to do is find where Vegnagun is being kept and we'll find him!"

"Did you forget that the Gullwings are sphere hunters, not people hunters?" Paine put in.

"Of course!" Yuna said quickly. "But...I do wanna find my friend."  
"Of course you do, Yuna." Paine muttered. "Let's get back on the ship."

"Once again, thanks for all your help, guys. We appreciate it."

"Not a problem!" Yuna said.

"Let's go, go, go!" Rikku said as she ran off for the Celsius.

They boarded the ship. Brother approached them.

"You found it!" he exclaimed. "Let's watch it!"

Yuna played it for them. After it was done, Brother stroked his chin with his right hand.

"Hmm, very peculiar."

"Nhadala said it's called Vegnagun. A powerful machina weapon hidden away years ago. No one knows where, though."  
"Then we find it!" Brother shouted. "Where do you think, or who, do you think might know about it?"

"As far as I've heard, New Yevon like to hide things." Paine put in. "Maybe they know something about this?"  
"Yeah..." Rikku thought for a moment. "As a matter of fact, they did make a tie with the Machine Faction a long time ago! Maybe they _do_ know something!"  
"So our next stop is Bevelle?" Buddy asked as he turned in his seat to face the group.  
"Right! Let's go!" Brother shouted.

"I was asking Yuna, but okay..." he muttered as he directed the ship for Bevelle. "Nothing for youguys to do until then. Just kick back and wait."

Being dismissed, Yuna went up to the deck of the ship.


End file.
